


the bottom of the deep end

by whotfispeach



Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: a nice intro to my mer!awsten series, and he's an idiot, awsten is a mermaid, geoff is not an idiot, otto's just along for the fuckin ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 09:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16093259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whotfispeach/pseuds/whotfispeach
Summary: half of him wanted to call the boys, the panicked and frankly terrified part of his brain that craved reassurance, but panic quickly gave way to 'holy shit if they find out i’m a mermaid they’ll either laugh at me or call the fucking police.'so awsten didn’t tell his two best friends that he was a mermaid, because awsten was an idiot.





	the bottom of the deep end

**Author's Note:**

> so... i considered doing one big long fic about awsten being a mermaid. but that was daunting as fuck.
> 
> so instead i'm starting a series of oneshots to put in this weird AU where he's a mermaid you're welcome

awsten would’ve thought that after twenty six years he’d figure out why he saw scales on his neck and chest after every shower. his mom always thought it was weird eczema, but the reptilian growths on his skin never remained once he was dry. so instead of actually figuring out what his fucking deal was, awsten had elected to ignore it. 

then it went from weird scales to an entire tail in place of his legs, and then and only then did awsten realize he had a bit of a problem. 

he first noticed the scale problem reaching his legs on tour, showering after an exhausting show. he’d elected to wear sweatpants to bed that night, and prayed they’d fade by morning like they usually did. 

it was a good thing the next incident was at home, because he ended up taking a bath with a literal mermaid’s tail enveloping his two supposedly human legs into one scaled limb. half of him wanted to call the boys, the panicked and frankly terrified part of his brain that craved reassurance, but panic quickly gave way to  _ holy shit if they find out i’m a mermaid they’ll either laugh at me or call the fucking police _ . 

so awsten didn’t tell his two best friends that he was a mermaid, because awsten was an idiot. 

keeping your weird sudden mermaid tail a secret, it turned out, was pretty easy to do when they weren’t touring, when they were in the studio or at home, or when hotels were in the picture. but warped tour?

awsten was royally fucked.

"hey, have you seen my lighter?"

"please tell me you're not conducting another weird seance in the parking lot."

awsten huffed and shook his head, poorly masking his defeat. "no," he lied through his teeth. "just... lost it."

otto just hummed in reply. he was sprawled out across his bunk- as much as one could actually sprawl out in such a tiny, cramped space- with the curtain opened just enough for awsten to see him scrolling through his phone. "i'm not saying i'm not above stealing your lighter so you don't go summon demons. i am saying i didn't do it, though."

"coward," awsten joked, shutting otto's curtain as he laughed. "hey, geoff, wanna summon demons to fuck with otto?"

"no, awsten."

"y'all are cowards!"

awsten passed geoff as he sulked back to his bunk, pouting dramatically. "hey, i wanted to talk to you."

"mmm?" awsten hummed noncommittally as he crawled into his bunk.

geoff rolled his eyes. "you were acting kind of weird at soundcheck. everything alright?"

awsten feigned ignorance, fighting to hide the panic that made his heart beat a little too fast. "yeah, i'm fine," he tried to convince geoff, unconvincingly. "didn't sleep great last night, that's all."

actually, he'd been trying not to shower or generally get wet until he knew he'd have time to dry off and let his weird mermaid tail go away before anyone saw him, which was fucking hard to do on warped fucking tour, and by hard he meant entirely fucking impossible. but geoff didn't need to know that.

of course, geoff wasn't stupid. "i love you, man, but you're full of shit." awsten rolled his eyes. "you let me know if you need anything, alright? for real."

"yeah, dad."

geoff gave him a look, brows raised and lips thinned, but he backed down, shuffling off to his own bunk and leaving awsten to his existential mermaid crisis.

_ 'i can do this, _ ' he thought, panicked. ' _ yeah. hiding your weird secret scales that have turned into your weird secret fucking mermaid identity on warped tour when you're constantly surrounded by hundreds of people? easy. i've got this. _ '

he didn't sleep that night. instead, he worried.

~ 

awsten hadn't showered in a week, and it was getting problematic.

otto remained mostly confused by awsten's weird behavior, but geoff, like the absolute dad he was in his heart of hearts, was onto his bullshit, and awsten knew it. he'd tried washing himself with a wet washcloth and some soap, still avoiding his legs out of pure fear and anxiety, which made some light scales surface in places, but ones that sleeves could easily cover up. the scales got progressively worse if his legs got wet, darker and more prominent. it was looking like a summer of black jeans and sweaters. he was going to die.

awsten still couldn't find his fucking lighter, but he still had his ouija board. maybe he could call upon the ghost of mermaids and figure out how the everloving fuck to get rid of his tail.

"oh, god, not again," geoff moaned when he saw the board. "really?"

"yes, really, don't be mean to me."

geoff shrugged. "okay, but i'm joining in." awsten quirked a brow up at him. "you of all people need parental supervision around ghosts."

"that's fair."

"so you admit you act like a child?"

awsten mimed a hair toss. "it's part of my charm."

they placed the ouija board on the table at the front of the bus, both settling in on one side for easier access to the planchette. "do you think our bus is haunted?"

geoff made a face. "i'd rather it wasn't. and that we didn't make it haunted."

"that's boring and dumb." awsten cleared his throat, moving the planchette around the board in circular motions. "hey, ghosts on this bus or moving very fast along this highway with us, you should come hang out with us. have a conversation. tell us your secrets."

geoff rolled his eyes.

"i swear, he's taking this seriously," awsten tried to reassure the potential ghosts. "we're both taking this very seriously."

"extremely seriously," geoff confirmed. 

it happened within seconds, and awsten would go to his grave swearing the ghost of a bitter ass mermaid did it to him, but at that moment the bus lurched, and a large, full cup of water knocked itself directly onto awsten's lap. the panic set in instantaneously, with awsten wrapping his arms around himself tightly, wide eyes pointedly avoiding geoff's as he struggled to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do now.  _ fuck fuck fuck _ -

"hey, are you alright?"

"fine," awsten lied.

geoff stood up from the table, visibly worried. "here, i'll get a towel-"

awsten's legs were tingling. "fuck, shit, you've got to be kidding-"

"awsten?"

he could hear the fabric of his jeans ripping- fuck, he  _ liked _ these jeans. half of him was absolutely paralyzed in fear. geoff couldn't see him like this, no one could. he didn’t know what geoff would think, if he would be terrified, if he would hate him, how he’d react, if he’d call the cops or the FBI or ship him to Area 51. at the same time, his skin was itching frantically, and something primal and urgent in the back of his mind was screaming,  _ free me _ . 

so awsten tugged his pants off, leaving his literal mermaid tail on display. in front of geoff.

geoff, who was staring.

it wasn't a bad tail, awsten figured. it was pretty, long and a deep, teal blue, with glimmering scales that shone in the dim bus-light, and kind of itched at the moment, save for exactly where the water had hit. the scales on his arms and chest were always lighter, paler blue. he wondered if they'd resurfaced with his tail.

… right. his tail. "so..."

"this… is what you were hiding."

awsten started to chew on his lip frantically, nodding a little. "uh... yeah."

"... well, fuck."

"i agree."

"hey, what are you freaking-  _ oh my god. _ "

awsten snorted, watching as shock and fear and a little bit of awe registered across otto's face. "yeah, welcome to the fucking club." his voice shook, and he swallowed hard. great, now he was going to lose both bandmates at once. efficient. 

"awsten's a mermaid," geoff blurted out. "you're a literal, real life mermaid.” he paused, letting the realization hang in the air. “what the fuck?"

"i don't know!" awsten exclaimed. his tail flicked around, panicked. "i mean, i've always had, like... weird scales? guess now's a good time to let that cat out of the bag."

otto shrugged. "might as well. it’s not as earth shattering as… y’know,  _ a tail _ ."

"but this-” he gestured emphatically at his tail- “didn't start happening until, like... right before we were in the studio for entertainment."

geoff was still staring. awsten could practically see the gears turning in his brain, processing, reasoning… probably coming up a little blank, given most people weren’t secretly mermaids. "so this whole time, you were leaving early, and hiding, and not showering at all- which i  _ definitely _ noticed, because you smell like shit- because... you grow a tail. when you get wet."

"... yeah."

the trio paused. awsten was frozen still, tail twitching every now and then nervously. he wondered about the fraction of his brain that wanted to set his mermaid self free, that longed for open bodies of water, longed to swim and let go. was that him? had that been him all along?

"cool," otto decided. geoff nodded affirmatively. "not sure how to fix the shower situation, but we'll make it work."

awsten grinned. it was gonna be okay.


End file.
